บท 100: Chapter 100 - Kensei's Hate

Hokage Tower - Hiruzen's Office.

Jiraiya sat with his arms crossed across from his old sensei. He was still digesting the information he just learned.

"So Danzo and Orochimaru are working together huh! Orochimaru isn't the kind of person who would do something for someone without gaining anything in return. Danzo is the same." Jiraiya wondered what their goals were. "I'm sure neither of them trust each other… So what would they gain from this partnership?"

Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke. "It doesn't matter what! The fact is they are working together. And my tolerance for Danzo has reached its limit."

Jiraiya looked at his sensei. He saw anger on that face but he also saw the feeling of betrayal that his former sensei tried to hide. He let out a sigh and asked.

"So what now sensei? I'll dig into Danzo's contacts and see if I can find something to use as leverage."

Hiruzen shook his head. "No. I need you to handle the missions you currently have. We're in a very delicate situation. I need you to stay the course… I already have a few agents looking into Root and Danzo. And I'll have someone else handle Danzo's contacts at the Daimyo court."

Jiraiya was puzzled. "So if you don't want my help with Danzo then what do you need? I know you wouldn't have summoned me here for nothing."

"Yes. I do need your help. Not with Danzo. But with… Tsunade."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Are you recalling her to the village? Sensei, she won't agree to that. In fact I'm pretty sure she'll demolish the whole place if you force her."

"I'm well aware of her temperament, Jiraiya. And you have it backwards. I don't need her to return to the village. I want to send someone to her."

"Who?"

"A very talented child who I believe would make an excellent student. He's currently in his fourth year at the academy."

The toad sage was astonished. He couldn't believe his sensei wanted Tsunade to take on another student. He was skeptical that his old teammate would take the Hokage up on that.

"Tsunade already looks after Shizune. Do you think she'll take on another brat?"

"She will if I insist. I'm Hokage of the village. If I make it an order then she'll have no choice. And besides I have a feeling she'll want him as a student after she sees his talent for herself."

"You sure do have a high opinion of him. This kid must be quite special." Jiraiya said in a nonchalant tone.

Hiruzen knew Jiraiya had no idea of the magnitude of Daichi's talents. He looked at this student and spoke.

"Jiraiya… This child completely mastered the Rasengan in 8 days."

The smirk on the toad sage's face vanished. He was silent for a couple seconds and then suddenly started laughing.

"That's a good one old man. I see you haven't lost your sense of humor." He laughed for a few seconds but his laughter died down as he saw his sensei's serious expression.

"You're serious?"

"Deadly. And it's not just the Rasengan. He mastered the first two steps of change in chakra nature of earth and fire as well." Hiruzen elaborated.

Jiraiya's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Oi oi! Seriously? You better not be pulling my leg."

Hiruzen knew he piqued Jiraiya's interest. "I'm serious Jiraiya. He showed me the Rasengan and his grandfather told me he completed the nature training for earth and fire."

Jiraiya got serious. "Sensei. Please tell me everything about this kid."

"His name is Daichi Hekima…." The Hokage then explained how he met the child on top of the Hokage monument, the kid's talents displayed at the academy. His fight with the enemy spies and the display of Rasengan. And finally about Kensei.

Jiraiya leaned back in his chair and was immersed in his thoughts. 'This kid's talents… There is a possibility he is even more of a genius than Minato.'

Jiraiya then looked at the Hokage. "If he's this talented then why haven't you let him graduate? Having him stay at the academy seems like a waste to me."

Hiruzen sighed. "I know the academy won't benefit him much in terms of getting stronger, but he is still a child. It's best for him to grow up amongst his friends and let him enjoy the time he has… Least be become like-"

"Itachi?!" Jiraiya cut him off.

Hiruzen only let out another small sigh but didn't say anything.

"You know I've been thinking a lot about the massacre." Jiraiya had his eyes firmly fixed on his sensei as he spoke.

"How exactly did Itachi get away? As a matter of fact, how did he kill a whole clan without someone raising a ruckus?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and gazed at his teacher.

"I'm not sure how Itachi did what he did, but something like that won't happen again." Hiruzen's tone had a steely edge to it.

Jiraiya looked at the old man and decided to drop the matter. He then focused on the information he learnt. "So the child this Daichi kid helped, turned out to be one of Orochimaru's experiments. That's how you got the identity of the spy and you then sent your Anbu after him. And during Anbu's investigation into the spy he discovered Orochimaru's involvement with Danzo… Wow. One could almost call that incident a lucky break."

"Yes…" Hiruzen knew what his student meant. If it wasn't for Daichi perhaps he would never have known about the existence of the spy until it was too late.

"What do you need me to do sensei?"

"I need you to track down Tsunade. Convince her to take the child as a student or at the very least meet the boy. If she still refuses then tell her it's an order from me…"

Jiraiya looked at the aging kage for a few seconds and then nodded.

Hiruzen continued. "There is something else… I also need her help with another matter."

Jiraiya tilted his head and waited for his sensei to speak.

"I need her to create a corpse identical to a certain man."

"Who?"

"Isen!"

Jiraiya was puzzled for several seconds before he recalled the name and face. And he was shocked. "What? Sensei, he's in Hōzuki Castle. And moreover his memories are wiped… What exactly do you need him for?"

"I have my plans and Isen is necessary for that. For the moment that's all you need to know."

Jiraiya didn't ask anymore about that as he knew his sensei would be tight-lipped about sensitive plans.

Both of them became silent for several seconds. Jiraiya then broke the silence with a question.

"You mentioned Danzo having ties with people near the Daimyo. Who exactly are you planning on sending to investigate people of the Royal court."

Hiruzen was silent for a few seconds. He took another puff from his lit pipe and let out a smoky breath a second later and then answered. "Kensei Yasaji."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. 'In hindsight that's not a bad plan. He's an excellent strategist and investigator and he's capable of reading people far better than most. He'll be able to uncover Danzo's connections if he puts his mind to it…. But would he do it if sensei asks?'

"If I remember right, you and Kensei were not on the best of terms… I know you two got into a heated argument. Regarding his son…" Jiraiya asked his teacher.

Hiruzen nodded. "His son Hotaru was talented. When he was a Jonin one of his missions went wrong and he took the blame. Danzo wanted him in the root and I… allowed it."

"What exactly happened?"

"He was leading a 4 man team. Aside from Hotaru there was another Jonin and 2 chunin. It was supposed to be an easy mission but they were ambushed due to Hotaru taking a different route on his way back. He's the only one who survived."

Jiraiya knew of dozens of such incidents throughout his life. Easy missions gone wrong due to one bad choice.

"The village lost 3 capable ninja and some wanted Hotaru to be held accountable. Danzo used this opportunity to recruit him into the root. Kensei was against that. He figured something was wrong with the whole picture and investigated."

Now Jiraiya got curious. Kensei was an excellent investigator. "Did he find anything?"

Hiruzen answered "A week after the incident with Hotaru, Kensei came to me and told me the whole ambush was a set up from Danzo but he couldn't find proof."

"What?"

"Yes. Kensei followed the trail of the attackers and came to this conclusion. But he didn't have solid proof of Danzo's involvement. But he did discover something else during his investigation. The three ninjas Hotaru had on his team were selling secrets to enemy spies. They were turned."

When Jiraiya heard that, he came to a realization. "What a minute! So due to that ambush, three traitors of the village were taken care of and Danzo got a talented Jonin as a subordinate? That's one hell of a coincidence."

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes."

"So in one move the threats to the village were gone and Danzo had another talented root ninja. And there was no evidence connecting him to the whole thing?... Yeah. If you ask me, that sounds like Danzo's work." Jiraiya gave his thoughts.

"I didn't believe it at the time. Or I didn't want to believe it... And Kensei went to Danzo and confronted him. I don't know what happened between them but Hotaru sided with Danzo for whatever reason… After that Kensei's dislike of Danzo turned into hate and he also blames me for not helping him. Kensei and his son drifted apart after that and years went by and before Kensei could reconcile with his child, Hotaru, along with his wife died in the nine tails attack. During the attack Danzo ordered some of his root forces to attack the beast. Hotaru was one of them. Kensei blames Danzo for everything that happened to his son. And to a lesser degree he blames me as well."

"What a mess…! What about now? Will he really help you if he still blames you?" Jiraiya asked.

"I'm well aware that Kensei doesn't like me. But his hatred for Danzo is far greater. He's kept it buried but it's still there. And you and I both know, hate can be a very potent stimulus… He'll help me… But I need to convince him that Daichi will be safe."

Jiraiya nodded as he understood the situation. "So I take it that's another reason you're sending that kid to Tsunade? Keeping him out of the village and away from Danzo's grasp…"

Hiruzen nodded in agreement.

"Does the situation with Isen also have anything to do with this?" Jiraiya asked unsure if his sensei will answer him or not.

"Yes… Kensei was… Adamant about rescuing him." Hiruzen answered after a few seconds of silence.

Jiraiya sighed. He thought about the whole thing and came to a conclusion. "A prisoner can be released if the leader of their village sends an official request. But since you can't bring him back through official channels you're planning on breaking him out… I see… So that's why you need a corpse. You need a double to fake his death."

"Indeed. I suppose there was no point in hiding it from you."

"How are you going to do it?"

"I've come up with a plan. I'll speak to Kensei about it in the coming week and finalize it. In the meantime I need you to track down Tsunade and tell her everything. Have her come to the Silverstone safe house at the Capital in exactly a month from today. I'll have Kensei meet her there. Jiraiya, make sure she understands how important this is."

The toad sage nodded. "I'll handle it."

Both of them sat in silence for a while after that.

"How is Naruto doing?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's been difficult for him… But he's made some good friends recently. He's a lot happier these days."

Jiraiya had a sad smile when he heard that. "Minato and Kushina trusted me with their son… They made me the godfather. And… I've let them down."

"No. I know how much you care for the boy. I know it pains you deeply to not be here for him… I'm the one who let them down. I'm to blame for his situation. I don't know how the information about him holding the nine tails got out to the public but… It is my responsibility."

Jiraiya said nothing. He knew it wasn't his sensei's fault but he couldn't bring himself to say the words out loud.

They spend a few hours catching up and Jiraiya apprized the hokage of the current situations throughout the great nations. And sometime later Jiraiya left the village as quietly as he came.